(Radio Iowa) – The Camanche City Council has turned down the settlement Canadian Pacific Railroad is offering to address far more train traffic in the area. Canadian Pacific Railway is acquiring Kansas City Southern, a merger that’s expected to eventually triple train traffic through parts of eastern and southern Iowa. Davenport’s City Council has voted to accept a 10-million dollar settlement. The Bettendorf and Muscatine City Councils have both agreed to three million dollar settlements. Canadian Pacific offered Camanche 200-thousand dollars, for closing two of the seven railroad crossings in Camanche.

The mayor of Camanche has told media outlets in the Quad Cities area that is not acceptable and, if a train carrying crude oil from Canada derailed, the only escape route for 12-hundred Camanche residents would be the Mississippi River.  Federal officials are still reviewing the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. If approved, the company would be the only single-line railroad linking Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

(Radio Iowa) – Ottumwa police say a man shot his wife with a crossbow while she slept early Wednesday morning. The victim was identified as 68-year-old Lillian Dennison who was sleeping on a couch when she was allegedly attacked shortly after 1:00 AM. The victim was transported to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. Lieutenant Jason Bell says at approximately 10:00 the same morning, 68-year-old George Dennison was taken into custody after being found in a wooded area near the home.

George Dennison has been charged with attempted murder and domestic abuse assault. He is being held in the Wapello County Jail on a 50-thousand dollar bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – When the Atlantic City Council met Wednesday evening (Aug. 17), they acted on passing the first reading of an amended ordinance, by means of adding a section regulating “Panhandling.” Councilman Pat McCurdy asked Police Chief Devin Hogue if the Ordinance (#1021) was really “necessary,” to which he replied,”yes,” because of the volume of Interstate traffic that tends to bring persons low on funds, to the City begging for money.

Councilman H. Lee Sisco recounted an incident of alleged aggressive panhandling that occurred a few days ago at around 7-a.m., in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

If, upon three readings the Ordinance is approved as written, panhandlers could be cited and fined $50. In other business, Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett reminded property owners of the need to control the weed population. The Mayor and others spent time last weekend removing or trimming weeds that were along the curbs of 7th Street.

The Mayor said property owners will be notified if their properties are not in compliance with the Code of Ordinances, with regard to weed/grass overgrowth along the curbs and properties.

On another note, the Mayor and Council were pleased by attendance last weekend, during AtlanticFest. Councilperson Elaine Otte said the were more than 200 vehicles registered for the car show. All those hungry people in the downtown area for AtlanticFest, kept the food truck vendors very busy.

Otte said one of the new food vendors say “they’ve never been as busy at another event,” as they were during AtlanticFest. Councilman Halder suggested making space for another food truck in the car show area, since most of the participants really don’t want to leave their vehicles while they get something to eat. Any such issues that cropped-up this year, will likely be resolved in-time for AtlanticFest 2023.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County say no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident early this (Thursday) morning. Authorities say 18-year-old Jacob Hobbie, of Sidney, was driving a 2018 Dodge RAM pickup southbound on I-29 near mile marker 29, when the left rear tire blew out. The incident, which happened a little after 12-a.m., caused Hobbie to lose control of the vehicle. The pickup struck a guardrail on the east side of the road. A dollar amount of the damage is not available.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc., reported an incident of Theft at around 6:50-a.m. today (Thursday). The theft took place in the area of Highway 34 and 295th Street, in Mills County. A description of the item(s) that were taken, and the dollar value, was not released.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon School Board held their regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening. Superintendent Eric Trager told the Board “It’s a busy week for us.”

Trager said during the meeting, the Audubon School Board approved a DMACC Student Teacher Observation Contract, Student Handbooks, a 28-E agreement with the North Central Consortium, Building Project change orders, and, a Mediation Settlement with the General Contractor for the Building Project.

The settlement was for part of the Delta (the difference between the original and final bid).

In the end, Eric Trager said, “We will finish the project on-time and on-budget.” He said there never was any explanation of why the contractor failed to perform as agreed to.

The bottom line is, there is zero financial impact to the District Patrons. Mr. Trager said, with regard to personnel, for all intents and purposes, they are fully-staffed for the upcoming school year.

(Radio Iowa) – Despite widespread rainfall earlier this week, drought conditions are worsening across Iowa, according to the new map out today (Thursday) from the U-S Drought Monitor. Field agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe, with the Iowa State University Extension, says the new red spots on the map are particularly troubling. “It just got updated again this morning based off of rainfall as of Tuesday morning of this week,” Vittetoe says, “so, not necessarily major changes on the Drought Monitor but parts of western Iowa, there’s a few more areas that are in the D-3 or that extreme drought compared to last week.”

Extreme drought is now shown in five western counties: Cherokee, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury, while statewide, 67 counties are now in some form of drought, up from 64 counties last week. Vittetoe is based in southeast Iowa’s Washington County, which is listed as both abnormally dry and in moderate drought, and she’s encouraged by crop conditions as harvest season nears. “It’s amazing what the plant breeders have been able to do to help crops better withstand drought,” Vittetoe says. “I look at some fields that have had less than five inches of rainfall this growing season and I’m impressed with how well they look, considering the little rainfall that we have had.”

She says Iowa’s two biggest crops are suffering fairly equally in the drought. “On the corn side, that pollination and grain fill is a really critical period when we don’t want to be having a lot of drought stress. We want to have plenty of moisture, cooler temperatures, to really help with pollination and with grain fill,” Vittetoe says. “On the soybean side, if we’re hot and dry in July, when that corn’s pollinating, I’m not as concerned then as when we get into August and we’re trying to work on putting on pods, filling pods.”

Vittetoe will be hosting a statewide virtual meeting next on the drought from the fall harvest perspective. For details, visit: https://www.aep.iastate.edu/drought/view

(Creston, Iowa) – Two men were arrested on separate charges Wednesday night, in Creston. According to the Police Department, 35-year-old Brandon Whitfield, of Creston, was arrested at around 9:15-p.m. at his residence, on a Union County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. Whitfield was transported to the Union County Jail where he was waiting to be seen by Magistrate.

And, at around 10:15-p.m., Wednesday, 43-year-old Jason Ford, of Creston, was arrested at a Creston apartment complex, and charged with the Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Ford was cited at the scene and released on a summons to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – As tomatoes start to ripen in gardens, salsa is one of the favorite things Iowans like to make with them. An Iowa State University Extension food specialist says Renee Sweers (like cheers) says if you want to save some salsa for later canning is an option. But she says there are a lot of variables that include the variety, tomato, the weather, the soil, and whether that tomato actually has a high enough acid content.  “There’s sort of a notion that you can make salsa any way you want to and can it. Of course, that’s not really true,” she says. Sweers says you should use lemon juice, or powdered citric acid you are purchasing with your canning supplies. And she says to use a recipe that is one that you trust.

“Take that salsa recipe and kind of compare it to the various salsa recipes from the tested sources and then follow the one from the tested source that is most similar to kind of their fan-favorite recipe,” she says. Sweers says without taking these steps you could end up wasting the effort. If you don’t want to get that detailed, you can just make a batch and enjoy. salsa. “Of course, they could also make salsa and just refrigerate it and eat it within a week or so. Fresh salsa just like you know cooking, you don’t have to have a tested recipes if you are just gonna make fresh salsa you can put that together any way you want to,” according to Sweers. A third option is to freeze the salsa.

ISU Extension photo

“Sometimes that appeals to people because they maybe feel it doesn’t take as much time — or doesn’t seem as complicated,” she says. Storage can be an issue if you want to make a big batch. “You’ve got to have the freezer space as opposed to the canned item which is sitting there on the shelf,” she says. And the taste of the frozen salsa will be different than the canned option, and she says you may have to drain some water off when you thaw it out.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are familiar with the emerald ash borer and the green insect’s threat to our foliage, but we’re also being asked to be on guard for another insect that’s equally as lethal to a much wider variety of trees. Rhonda Santos, a spokeswoman for the U-S-D-A, says Iowa homeowners should examine their trees for the Asian longhorned beetle and report any clues they find about the invasive pest.

“Now is the best time to look for and report the signs of the Asian longhorned beetle in your backyard and in your neighborhood,” Santos says. “This wood-boring beetle attacks many types of trees and is a threat to our shade trees, recreational areas and our forest resources.” Unlike the emerald ash borer, the Asian longhorned beetle likes to feed on a host of trees, including: ash, birch, elm, sycamore, maple, buckeye, poplar and willow. The bug has distinct markings and leaves behind a series of holes and other signs in trees that make it quick to identify.

Asian Longhorned Beetle (USDA photo)

“The beetle is easy to recognize with their black and white antennae, shiny black body with white spots, and six legs,” Santos says. “The beetles create round holes and scars in the tree bark, sawdust-like material around the tree, and can cause branches to fall.” The beetle is not native to the U.S. and has few-to-no natural predators. Santos encourages Iowans to take five minutes and give your trees a close inspection for those round holes or sawdust.

Santos says, “If you see these signs, take photos and capture the suspicious insects to help the USDA with identification.” The beetle was first spotted in the U.S. in New York in 1996 and spread quickly. It’s one of a group of invasive pests and plant diseases that costs the nation some 40-billion dollars each year in losses to trees, plants, and crops. For more information or to report the insect or tree damage, visit www.asianlonghornedbeetle.com.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Cass County (IA) man was arrested at around 6:10-p.m. Wednesday, east of Elliott. Authorities say after a traffic stop was conducted, it was determined the driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Caleb Schaaf, of Griswold, was wanted on a Warren County warrant for Eluding. Schaaf was arrested and held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, at around 6:30-p.m., Wednesday, 25-year-old Daisy Walker, of Red Oak, was arrested in Red Oak, on a Montgomery County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.